


this is freedom (an origin from knowhere)

by Spaghettoi



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Drabble, Fire, Gen, How Do I Tag This, Texas, Wuh oh, au of an au ?, baps you with this, im a writer i swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:20:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24411220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spaghettoi/pseuds/Spaghettoi
Summary: we are creating things. brrrrr.litchrally dont ask. litchrally dont. litchrally dont.okay so this is related to havoks skyrates, but its actually a server au-- ????????? so thats where were at right now. i haven't written anything complete in *so long*. we are strugglebussing. working out the kinks in OFTB rn. i don't think ive written anything over 1k in weeks.see yall soon, thanks for reading <3 <3
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12
Collections: Skyrates from Knowhere





	this is freedom (an origin from knowhere)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Khio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khio/gifts), [WreakingHavok](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WreakingHavok/gifts).



If he squints, he can almost pretend this is freedom.

Running has always been free. Always will be, according to the quotes. He thinks that maybe there's a difference between running to something and away from it.

He’ll put it this way: in his dreams, Texas doesn’t quite exist as a place. It’s a smog, similar to that which smothered the colony’s last breaths.

The shuddering of the hull as it cracked against the ground is a memory he doesn’t think he’ll ever lose, though. The hot licks of flame, the thunderous sound, the smoke coating and scratching at his throat--

And, that’s the end of that thought. From there on out, it’s nothing. A forceful block, but a necessary one. If he examines it closely, he can begin to see the cracks, see the white-hot light of the fire burning through the lines.

“Ghet,” Khio says, snapping him from his thoughts, out of the searing heat of Texas and into the bitter cold of the Northeast. (It’s a good thing he did-- that was a dangerous train of thought. Best not question the way his brain works. It’s a protection.) “Ghet,” he says again, and he grabs Ghet’s forearm, bringing him to a grinding halt. “Dude, stop.”

“What, dear?” 

“Ghet, _look_ ,” he says, and he holds out a gloved hand. “It’s snowing.”

And, _oh._ It is, isn’t it. He’s never seen snow before, but he notices it now, floating down through the air in little white tufts. Ghet tugs off his own glove, holding his hand out to watch the snow fall and melt into the creases of his hand. Something stirs in his chest.

It hurts to see the results of their travels, to know that he’s so far from the life he once lived. 

Something in him misses Texas, if he’s being honest. It wasn’t a happy place, but it was a place, and it was stable-- now, with the ever looming threat of human groups? He can’t believe he’s saying it, but he almost longs for the awful slick of oil that coated every inch of Texas, caked into the cracks and crevices. Almost misses the backbreaking work, drudging oil from the ground, feeding the hungry beast of a colony, forcing it to draw it’s shuddering breaths.

Almost.

Because Texas, while it was a lot of things, was anything but pretty. Texas was raw, and Texas was hard, and Texas-- at least, the Texas he lived in, beneath the floorboards, scrambling under the ice to escape being sucked back by the rushing flow of the river-- was poor. He knows there were areas that were richer, but the place was enormous. The wealthy may as well have been living on a different planet, if it weren’t for the ropes they held in tight fists, choking the industry which kept the colony alive.

Besides, if he’d stayed in Texas, he never would have seen the rest of the land. Likely never would have seen land, period. Sky colonies have strict emigration rules, and there’s no way a low-level like him would have met the requirements. 

He never would have seen the sky, completely unobscured like it is now. He never would have met Khio, his brother in arms.

“Make it stop,” Ghet says. Khio snaps up to look at him.

“What?”

“Just make it stop, please,” he snaps, something hot and slippery and angry writhing in his chest. Khio blinks before shutting his eyes, and in an instant, the snow is gone, replaced with only the thick winds of the northeast as it clutches hungrily at their coats.

“We need to keep moving,” Ghet says grudgingly, pulling his glove back on. Appreciate the little things, but don’t get lost in them, and certainly don't forget yourself. “We need to keep moving.”

Khio nods, shoving his hands back into the pockets of his jacket. 

And they’re off.

\--

It takes four minutes for all of Texas to catch fire. It takes seven for it to fall. It takes seconds for Ghet to escape it all.

The fire sticks with him, though. It’ll never leave, burned (ha) into his mind until the day that he dies.

There were no survivors. Through the haze, that is a fact, unblinking. There were few teleports in Texas-- there were fewer who knew how to control it. The airship evacuation message was not sent. Should the ship have gotten off at all, piloted by it’s AI, it would be full only of the ghosts it was meant to save.

He watched alone as Texas hit the ground. He watched alone as the shock-wave shook, even from miles off. He watched alone as the carnage destroyed everything he’d ever known.

You can’t live in the present while stuck in the past. So Ghet takes one look at the Colony fallen from the sky, too hungry for its own good, and locks it deep, deep into himself. He becomes someone else, someone stripped of any defining Texan trait-- bar the accent.

Because, inevitably, Texas is just another piece of the puzzle. Another ebb to make space for the flow. 

Another day. Another up, another down.

**Author's Note:**

> we are creating things. brrrrr.
> 
> litchrally dont ask. litchrally dont. litchrally dont.
> 
> okay so this is related to havoks skyrates, but its actually a server au-- ????????? so thats where were at right now. i haven't written anything complete in *so long*. we are strugglebussing. working out the kinks in OFTB rn. i don't think ive written anything over 1k in weeks. 
> 
> see yall soon, thanks for reading <3 <3


End file.
